Somewhere in Rio Grande do Norte's countryside, Brazil, the wealthy farmer Elói Dantas (Álvaro Guimarães) decides to increase his patrimony even further by exploiting ores. To do this, he tries to appropriate the small site of Antônio Vaqueiro (José Marinho). Desperate, Antônio rushes to the aid of the gypsy healer Maria dos Remédios (Luiza Maranhão) and the poet and dreamer Tião Poeta (Lenicio Queirogo) to face the greed of Elói.